Today I posted a video with my answer to this topic. You can check it out by clicking on the video below, or read the following.

I came across a statistic that over 20 million people are expected to use social media networks in Canada this year - with 18.5 million of them on Facebook.

If you're a business in Canada, you can almost guarantee that a large percent of your target market is on Facebook.

But how much content from businesses do you really see on Facebook? The answer is, organically - not much. I think of 2007 when I signed up for Facebook (probably the only good thing to happen that year - I went to prom alone LOL). Since then, I've liked probably hundreds of pages. But when I scroll through my newsfeed, I only see a few - Forbes Business, Marketing Hub, Remax Canada, and Yorkies Forever.

That's due to Facebook's sophisticated algorithm - that ensures that you don't get 'spammed' by businesses everyday and see mostly content from your friends, families, and major interests.

So as a business, how do you show up? Enter Facebook ads. With very little spend, you can reach tens of thousands more people in your target area. You have tons of options for bidding, budget, and the types of campaigns you run.

You can easily track your spending, performance, and ROI. You can even print out an invoice summary each month to pass to your accountant. And the best part? You can gain an edge over your competitors, who are likely posting, but without strategy or the technical employment of Facebook advertising (ie. they don't know what's up).

For example, for my Real Estate clients, I run ongoing click campaigns to generate more listing appointments, increase traffic to view the inventory on their website, and also promote them as a brand and increase their overall exposure. We even use it for other markets to target potential relocations. The market is HOT right now and people are interested in Real Estate - so take advantage of it, and get out there. You can provide all of the value in the world to your Facebook page, you can be funny and engaging, but who's going to see it if you don't run ads? It's kind of like having a one-sided conversation.

After all, where else were you going to spend your marketing budget? I hope you won't say the phonebook, although it sure does make a weighty doorstop thanks to marketing spends by local businesses.